


Grayson

by ProsperDemeter



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Origin Story, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:00:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProsperDemeter/pseuds/ProsperDemeter
Summary: "The Circus was set up so far on the outskirts of Metropolis that it barely constituted being part of the city. There were red and white painted cars, trolley, tents, booths, tanks, stages, and cages. There were lions, tigers, camels, elephants, and performers eating breakfast under the rising sun. The grass was some of the greenest grass that young Richard Grayson had ever seen in his entire life."Or the story of how a bird learned to fly.
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Clark Kent, Dick Grayson & Wally West
Comments: 17
Kudos: 34





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I don't know if this story will ever go anywhere. I don't know if I'll finish writing it. But I am sucker for Batfamily and, if this does go somewhere, I have a whole lot planned for it. 
> 
> Warning: I do not speak Romani, but I made it so that Dick does, so there are a few words tossed in there every now and then.

_ “You’ll never know if you can fly, unless you take the risk of falling.” - Nightwing _

Metropolis was a large expanse of metropolitan buildings with wide open spaces and pristine glass windows. It was picturesque and seemed to glow in the sunlight. It was the home to many things - the acclaimed newspaper The Daily Planet, the best diner in southern United States, Superman, and, currently, the big domed tent that proudly represented Haly’s Circus. 

The Circus was set up so far on the outskirts of Metropolis that it barely constituted being part of the city. There were red and white painted cars, trolley, tents, booths, tanks, stages, and cages. There were lions, tigers, camels, elephants, and performers eating breakfast under the rising sun. The grass was some of the greenest grass that young Richard Grayson had ever seen in his entire life. 

Richard wiggled his toes and blinked up at the orange ball of sunlight hanging in the sky. He had been to places like Metropolis before. He had even been to Metropolis before. The audiences in big cities like these always clapped the loudest at the acts that took risks. At the performers that would stick their heads in the mouths of lions, the performers that would walk the tightrope blindfolded, at the clowns that would shoot blanks at each other, at the blind knife thrower, at the trapeze act with no net. This would be  _ his _ performance week. He knew it in his bones. 

“Prihor,” His mother’s voice sounded like a campfire on a clear autumn night. It sounded of the crackling fire and marshmallows. It sounded of dancing to the clapping hands of their family in some unspoken rhythm under the stars. She was the most beautiful woman Richard had ever known. 

“Mami.” He felt her arm slide around his back and nudge him forward to the large table in the Big Top. Richard was seven but even he knew now that his mother was the most beautiful woman he would  _ ever  _ see. 

Her smile was like sunshine breaking through grey clouds, her hair like big black fluffy skies that seemed to brew the most wonderful storms, and her eyes the color of dirt after a bountiful rainfall. Her hips swayed like the wind through the trees and her hands were as gentle as the breeze on the trapeze. “Breakfast time.” She hugged Richard close to her hip and mussed his hair. Papi said that Richard looked like his Mami in everything but his eyes. No, Richard’s eyes he didn’t inherit from either of his parents. His Mami said they were a gift from an angel, the kind of blue that reminded her of the softest, warmest, most gentle ocean wave. 

Richard slid onto the bench next to Maria, the tightrope walker, and his father. “Good morning, Dickie.” His Papi kissed the top of his head and handed him a cup in which he could pour himself some milk. Maria’s son, Miguel, sat across from him and wiggled all four of his fingers in a hello. Miguel didn’t talk much but that was okay - Richard talked enough for both of them. 

“Bonjour, Papi.” Richard smiled with all of his teeth, proudly displaying the missing one in the front. He had lost it this morning and he was still eagerly awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fairy. If only she came during the day he could hide it during the performances and have a prize waiting for him once he got done with his first ever performance as one of  _ The  _ Flying Graysons. 

“English, prihor.” His Mami reminded him gently but firmly. 

Richard hated English. “Sorry, Mami.” He muttered and bit viciously into a piece of sausage. 

His Papi said nothing. He did nudge Richard’s shoulder, though, and screwed up his face just so when Mami wasn’t looking. Richard giggled and ate some more. At least his Papi was on his side. Papi was always on his side. Papi with his wide shoulders and soft American smile. Papi’s hair was a little bit lighter than Mami’s - more like fertilizer than storm clouds and his eyes were the color of a melted chocolate bar. Mami’s skin was darker but Papi’s looked like the color of beach sand before it got touched by the tide. “Practice today?” Richard eagerly asked, barely containing himself from bouncing in his seat. 

“You forgot a letter there.” His Papi corrected smoothly. 

Richard wrinkled his nose. “I…?” He looked at Miguel from the corner of his eye. Miguel nodded ever so slightly. “I… practice today?” He corrected hopefully. 

His Mami looked proud of the correction. His Papi noticed Miguel’s subtle thumbs up. Richard tried not to flush. “Aiwa.” Mami looked at him like Maria looked at her snake when he managed not to try to eat a bunny. His Papi looked at her funny. “Yes, scuze.” 

“Mary,” His Papi warned and poured some red sauce over his eggs. “How can we expect Dickie to speak English if you don’t?” 

Richard looked at his Mami with a triumphant gleam in his blue eyes. Mami’s cheeks turned the color of daisies in spring. “Sorry, John.” 

Papi winked at Richard. “Finish eating, do your chores, and then we’ll practice, Dickie.” 

“Mutumesc, Papi!” 

“Richard.” Mami spoke like a knife. 

“Oops. Meant thank you, Papi.” Miguel slashed frantically at the air and pointed upwards. “Doamne.” Richard muttered. “I mean thank you, Papi.” He corrected as fast as he could. Swallowing and trying hard not to let his embarrassment show. English was unnecessarily hard. But Mami wanted him to know it more than the circus demanded he did so Richard would try. Well, he would try for as long as Mami tried anyway. 

* * *

Zitka was huge, bulking, blue, and Richard’s second favorite part of any day. Scooping out her dung, however, was not. Richard came up to around her chin standing on his tiptoes with his tallest shoes on. Barefoot as he was, Richard was a good inch below her armpit and had to squint to see the tops of her ears if the sun was setting. Thankfully, with a good four hours to go until lunch the sun was at just the right placement to be scorchingly hot but facing the snake charmer's tent and not Zitka’s fenced in home. Miguel was sitting on a rock just outside, watching with attentive eyes and sipping on a cup of lemonade. Maria didn’t make him do as many chores as Richard had to. Granted, Miguel was only six where Richard was seven but the sting was still there. 

Not that Richard minded making Zitka comfortable. 

Zitka was only two years older than him and she acted every bit like the older sister Richard thought of her as. Even as he shoveled out her poop. 

Richard had mastered the ability to hold his breath long enough to not inhale the smell after throwing up the first few times. Mami had thought it was too difficult of a task for such a young boy but Papi had sternly told her to give him another chance. Richard wasn’t one to give up, and especially not on Zitka. 

“Help?” Miguel called after Richard struggled with a particularly heavy shovel full of dung. 

Richard ignored him long enough to drop the poo and walk to a safe corner to breathe. “No thanks.” He hated English but Miguel didn’t understand Romani as good as his parents. That was why Mami and Papi encouraged Richard and Miguel’s friendship since they were younger. It forced Richard to use his English words. It worked almost as well as working with Annie and Frederick - the ticket salesman and greeters. Richard would hand out the fliers every now and then. It helped get him out of the camp and into the real world. 

Richard didn’t mind wandering around the cities. But honestly he thought it would all be a little bit more of an experience if he could do it barefoot. Shoes were an unnecessary inconvenience.    
Zitka nudged him with her trunk and Richard stumbled before paying her attention. “Just one more, Zitka.” Miguel liked the way Richard said her name. It wasn’t like the city folk that came to visit that said it like it was spelt. It had the ‘ee’ of ‘geese’ and ‘cheese’ and a nice round ‘ah’ like in ‘ah-ha’. Richard never had to change the way he said Zitka’s name. Mami said you never had to change a name to sound English because then it wasn’t the same anymore. 

Richard took a deep breath and plunged in with the shovel, screwing up his face just so and walking to the pile the rest of her dung was in. He dropped it with skill and walked back to the shed to put the shovel away. 

He was dripping sweat, just like his parents liked him to be when he did his chores. Papi said it would give him character to work when he was young. Grandpa Haly said it was something everyone that performed in the circus had to do. And if Richard was going to perform like Mami and Papi and even Zitka one day he would be sure to put in all the work required to get there. 

Miguel handed him a towel and Richard wiped at his forehead and smiled at Zitka. She responded by showering him with water from her trunk. Miguel laughed happily and Richard was sure to thank her when he hugged her leg. Zitka took it as encouragement. 

Mami would be mad, Richard thought as he looked down at his drenched clothes. But for now he would play with his friends with the water from Zitka’s own clean water pool and the hose. 

* * *

Richard remembered the classes Gretta taught him about birds. He loved birds. Loved the way their wings flapped and their bodies cut through the wind with elegance and ease. Richard remembered asking Gretta if he could learn to fly like the birds. “No, Dickie,” She had said with her heavy wooden accent. “People no fly.” She had looked at him funny, like it was a silly question to ask. “No wings.” 

Richard wished she was still with Haly’s Circus now so that he could show her just how wrong she was. 

He pulled his knees into his chest and jumped and for a moment… for a moment he was flying. Gliding like a bird towards Papi. His heart was happiest when he was flying. 

_ This  _ was his favorite thing in the entire world. 

“Good, prihor.” Mami praised and Papi caught him like Papi always did. “Now a…” She puzzled over the word. “A  _ f _ …  _ f _ …  _ f _ ….” Her eyebrows crinkled and she murmured something to herself. Mami took English words more seriously than Richard ever could. 

“Flip, Dickie.” And Papi pushed him off. 

Yes, Richard thought as he soared and tumbled through the air and to Mami’s awaiting and steady hands. Flying was the best thing in the entire world. 

“Again.” Mami to Papi.

“Din nou.” Papi to Mami. 

“Again.” Mami to Papi.

“Din nou.” Papi to Mami. 

“Again.” Mami to Papi. 

Clapping and Papi’s strong, calloused hands holding Richard tight. Richard was breathing fast but smiling bright. Grandpa Haly was watching from the opening to their tent pride shining on his moustached face. “Splendid.” His voice was as loud as thunder but as welcoming as the dinner bell. “When will the Flying Graysons be adding the quadruple flip into their repertoire?” He asked it curiously but Richard knew why he was asking. 

Grandpa Haly was always saying that this would be Richard’s night. Mami and Papi were always saying that it wasn’t. 

“Not yet, Haly.” It didn’t seem like tonight was any different. 

Richard pulled a little too harshly from Papi’s grip. “Richard!” Papi shouted and Mami gasped. Grandpa Haly ran a few steps forward but Richard had already tumbled and was standing back up on his feet in the perfect performer’s pose, hands outstretched in the air and smile broad on his face. Grandpa Haly held a hand to his chest and closed his eyes in relief. Mami and Papi didn’t clap, even when Richard bowed to both sides like you were supposed to do during a real performance. Surely they had to change their minds after a feat like that. 

Richard looked up at them expectantly. 

Mami’s face looked like the sky before a storm. Papi looked as white as the sheets on Richard’s bed. Richard let his hands drop to his sides with a clap. His smile melted off his face. Grandpa Haly’s hand was heavy on his shoulder. “You gave me one hell of a scare there, Dick.” His voice was gruff but proud. He laughed his big, booming laugh. “Quite the performer, huh?” 

“And that is why we are not ready, Haly.” Mami snapped, pulling herself from where she was dangling upside down onto the ladder behind the trapeze. Papi followed suit on his side too, silent on the matter as he usually was. “Room, prieten.” Mami gestured angrily to the tent exit. 

“But Mami-!” Richard protested. 

“Ba!” Mami interrupted. “Room!” 

“Richard,” Papi softly intervened. “Just go to your room.” 

Richard’s eyes stung with tears. He swallowed past the angry and stubborn lump in his throat and kicked at the grass under his feet. Mami was overreacting. He hadn’t gotten hurt. He couldn’t get hurt. Their tent was nowhere near tall enough for him to get hurt and in the act they would have the net anyway! He swiped his fist under his eyes and bit at his lip. Mami and Papi wouldn’t see him cry. “Richard John Grayson,” Papi repeated like metal. “We told you to do something and you need to do it.” 

“Come on, Dickie.” Grandpa Haly’s hand moved from his shoulder to his messy hair. “We’ll sneak some cookies from the popcorn tent.” 

“Haly.” Mami was like lightning. “No.” 

And Richard stomped off and into the green caravan with their name on the side. He shut the door as forcefully as he could in his seven years and found his sheet covered corner of the place they called their home. Richard glared through his tears at the poster on his wall - blue and white with stars and two figures at each side near the top. In the center he had painstakingly drawn in a smaller figure flying between the two of them. Across the top were the words “The Flying Graysons”. 

Richard didn’t think they would ever let him fly. 

* * *

Richard didn’t go to watch the performance that night. Or the night after that. Or the night after that. Or the last night they were in Metropolis. Partially because Mami and Papi had forbidden him from doing so and had taken down the practice tent so that he couldn’t practice as punishment. Mostly, though, it was because Richard couldn’t find it in him to watch them fly without him. 

He wanted to fly more than he wanted anything in the world. Richard knew he could do it. He knew it. But Mami and Papi didn’t seem to have the same faith in him that Grandpa Haly did. 

Richard shuffled his feet and weaved between the audience milling around. A lot of them were in the Big Top, watching with bated breath as The Flying Graysons maneuvered one more death defying act. Richard had seen reporters from The Daily Planet with tickets earlier tonight. He wondered if they were watching too. 

Surprisingly Kittie’s tent was empty - the one with the big eye in the middle. Kittie was usually one of the busier tents, even with a show going on. “Dickie!” She waved at him, her black nails glittering in the lights strung from poles above them. “Pick some cards!” 

The entirety of Haly’s Circus knew of the fight Richard had with his parents over performing. They knew both sides and Richard hated to know that most them seemed to be on the side of his parents. Kittie, though… Kittie seemed to be on his. She even went as far as to tell him that it was in the cards that he would fly - he just had to push at the right time. Richard could entertain her some if she could do that for him. “Okay.” 

Richard had played with her Tarot cards many times. Kittie had even tried to teach him to read them before and sometimes she would quiz him on the meaning of some cards. It was fun. A nice thing to do on a rainy day. Richard even had a deck Kittie had gotten him for his birthday the year before that had all different kinds of elephants drawn on them. Richard treasured them as much as he treasured the blanket his Mami’s Mami had made him when he was born. It was ocean blue like his eyes. 

He shuffled and dealt and swung his feet over the dirt and stopped when it felt right, just like he had been taught. He counted and pulled three. Kittie leaned across the table, pressing her chest into the table, to see them. 

Kittie breathed sharply and looked at him with wide, almond and leaf colored eyes. 

“What does it mean?” He asked worriedly. 

Kittie didn’t usually act like this around him, typically she saved the outlandish responses to the cards for the paying customers. It was how she got her tips. She wouldn’t con him like she conned them when she knew he had nothing to give. Plus, Richard thought, they were family. 

He looked down and read. Death. Richard looked up sharply. “I’m not going to die, am I?” He asked frantically. 

Kittie grabbed his hand. “No, no.” She reassured. “The Death card rarely means death.” She paused. “You’re… simply going to go through a transition. A change.” Her smile on her black painted lips looked forced and her bangles banged against the table. “Maybe you’ll be flying in our next city. I hear we’re going to Gotham.” 

Richard’s eyes sparkled. He had always wanted to go to Gotham. “Maybe I’ll get to meet him!” He excitedly forgot all about the cards in favor of the thoughts dancing around his head of getting to meet him. Of getting to meet the Batman. 

Kittie decided to close up shop early that night, holding onto the cards Richard had pulled with trembling pale hands. She crossed herself with holy water and prayed. 

On her table sat such a terrible combination of cards. 

Death. The Ten of Swords. The Tower. 

_ Not the boy, _ she begged in her prayers.  _ Please, Lord, not the boy _ . 


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone that read, commented, kudoed, and followed the first chapter. 
> 
> I just hope I do Dick justice. ❤

Savini’s was in the heart of Gotham City’s art district with wide open windows that let in the gentle breeze from the waterfront. It had waiters that wore black satin ties and white pressed dress shirts and black lined dress pants. It had a hostess dressed in a strappy blood red dress and wore black elbow length gloves and so much makeup she reminded Richard of the way Mami looked before a performance. 

Richard knew that even in their best clothes all of them except Grandpa Haly stuck out at a place like Savini’s. He knew even in his brand new shiny shoes and hand me down dark blue bowtie and red dress up shirt that he looked like nothing compared to the other kids there. Richard could feel their eyes on him and his Mami and Papi and Grandpa Haly as the hostess walked them to their table. He held on a little bit tighter to his Papi’s hand and stuck a little bit closer to his side. His shoes echoed on the floor. 

Richard hated wearing shoes. 

The hostess handed him a menu with a forced smile - Richard could tell because it wasn’t in her kohl lined eyes like it was on her lips. Papi pulled out Mami’s seat for her to slide into. Mami looked beautiful, but Richard was convinced Mami always looked beautiful. She wore a red dress to match Richard’s shirt, long and soft and ending right at the top of her tall black sandaled feet. Her hair was draped over her tan shoulder and curled at the edges. Mami and Maria had spent an hour in Kittie’s tent and Mami still wasn’t happy with the results. 

“You look beautiful, Mami.” Richard had told her this many times and every time she blushed and smiled at him like she would when he would make up grand adventures in his head before bed. 

Richard didn’t like it when she did that. He was telling the truth. “Thank you, prihor.” Her fingers brushed against his forehead and leaned down to press a small, grateful kiss to his temple. A boy a few tables down from them, sitting in front of the window and its breeze, laughed and pointed at them to his father. Richard flushed and pulled away from his Mami quickly. 

He hated going out to restaurants like this. All the kids that went to these looked at him funny. Looked at him like he was a nasty dead bug on their shoe or like they had just caught a whiff of Zitka’s dung. 

Grandpa Haly noticed the moment but said nothing, choosing only to wink at Richard when his Mami had pulled away. “I agree with Dickie, Mary.” He said instead. “You look absolutely stunning, my dear.” Grandpa Haly had known Mary and John Grayson since before they were MaryandJohn and were instead Mary… and… John. He was the one that had brought them together, made them perform as one unit rather than two separate. Papi said that he used to always love Mami, but he was too blind to see it until she had pushed him into the lion’s den in the middle of a show. 

Mami said she hated Papi until he gave her Richard but she said it with a twinkle in her eye that told him she was lying. 

“What, no compliments for me?” Papi asked and unfolded his cloth napkin and put it on his lap. 

“You look wonderful too, my boy.” Grandpa Haly boomed loud enough that the other restaurant goers looked at them suspiciously. 

“You only like me for my looks, Haly.” Papi pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “I’m wounded.” 

Richard giggled and kicked his feet out under the chair. 

The adults argued with one another good naturedly while he looked around, taking it all in. Richard was sure he wouldn’t ever want a life like this one - one where he had to sit up straight all the time and always be wearing nice clothes and  _ shoes _ . One where he couldn’t have dirt on his face or use his fingers to eat. He supposed it was nice, though, to have bright flowers in the middle of the table and Mami, Papi, and Grandpa Haly to have their laughing juice. It was nice to listen to the soft piano keys played by an actual hand rather than a radio in Kittie’s tent. 

Savini’s wasn’t very busy and seated a few tables away from the other boy was the only other patrons there. A man with shadows under his eyes and shining midnight hair cradled a glass of his own laughing juice only he wasn’t laughing. Across from him was a beautiful woman, her hand filled with a mirror and a pen she drew on her lips with. They had a barely touched bowl of bread between them. Richard thought that they both looked awfully lonely over there, silent in everything but words. 

The man snapped his eyes towards Richard’s table and Richard rushed to look elsewhere. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he hadn’t fooled the man. 

“What would you like to drink, Dickie?” His father’s question pulled him from his thoughts. Richard blushed at the waiter who clicked his pen impatiently with an upturned eyebrow. “You can have anything, kiddo.” 

Anything. That must mean he was off the hook for his stunt in Metropolis. “A cana - cup of Sprite please.” He used his English and his manners and smiled his brightest smile. 

“Coming right up, kiddo.” It worked and the waiter smiled back. 

Mami looked proud, Papi looked mostly amused and the man sitting at the other table was paying attention more to the glass in his hand than the woman across from him. 

Richard tried not to stare since staring was rude. “Do you know why we’re here, Dickie?” Grandpa Haly interrupted his observation. He had that look in his wrinkled face that told Richard he was keeping a secret. 

Now that Richard really thought about it so did Mami and Papi. They were holding hands over the table, which was something they only did when they were nervous. If they weren’t hiding anything their hands would be under the table, resting on each others legs. Mami wasn’t smiling and Papi was smiling too wide. 

So it had to be a good thing. 

Richard knew it wasn’t his birthday but he also knew that Grandpa Haly wouldn’t have brought them here unless…. “Get to fly?” 

“You forgot a letter there.” Papi smiled wider. 

“Papi!” 

“Say it right.” 

Richard rolled his eyes. “I get to fly?” He corrected with a scowl. 

Mami smiled and it reached her eyes. 

Grandpa Haly let out a booming laugh. 

Richard nearly jumped across the table to wrap them both in his tight hug. 

And the man, well… the man watched with a look in his eyes that Richard could only describe as the same feeling Richard felt every time his parents flew without him. 

_ Envy. _

* * *

The costume was tight. 

The light was hurting his eyes. 

And Richard had decided that he hated makeup more than being barefoot. 

He wiggled his toes and stood wedged between Mami and Papi, looking down at the wide open space below as the crowd let out a noise Richard had only dreamed about. Grandpa Haly looked so small from the sky, in his tall red and gold top hat and matching suit. In his big black boots. “And now,” Grandpa Haly didn’t really need the microphone but he gripped one anyway. “In the premiere performance in this beautiful city, I present to you the birds that fly higher than the trees!” The audience grew soft and the clowns filed between the stands with cotton candy, flashing headbands, and pink and blue glow sticks. “The fearless birds without wings… and without a net.” Grandpa Haly’s voice dropped and the lights flashed. Richard tried not to shut his eyes against the harsh change in brightness. 

The audience gasped.

Mami squeeze his hand. 

“I give you, people of Gotham, The Flying… Graysons!” 

Papi leaned on his tiptoes, gripped the bar tightly, winked over his shoulder at Richard and was off. He tucked his legs. He braced with one hand and turned to face Mami. 

Mami was next, pointing out at the air with her toes and swinging to the gasps of the audience. 

They flew together for a long moment before Papi twisted so he held onto the bar with his knees, holding onto Mami with his outstretched hands and beckoning with his eyes. Richard smiled and jumped at Mami’s finger wiggle. She caught his fingers and smiled at his elated laugh. 

“You saw it first here, Gotham!” Grandpa Haly boasted. “I give to you the youngest aerialist the world has ever seen - at only seven Richard has been training his whole life to show you all how a boy really can fly!” 

The audience clapped along and Mami and him separated, swinging back and forth with ease. 

It was the best feeling Richard ever had in his life. His heart pounded, his hair flew all around his face, and no matter what he couldn’t drop the smile on his face. 

Papi flipped. 

Mami landed. 

Richard was next. 

Was it really time? 

He breathed deep, closed his eyes, tucked his knees, and dropped his hands. The air pushed him forward. The audience yelled as… one. Two. Three. Four. And Papi caught him around the wrists. Mami tossed out the other trapeze and Richard grabbed onto it, landing on the platform with his arms outstretched. 

He had done it. 

Richard had flown. 

* * *

Richard still remembered the feel of the wind in his hair even with his feet on the ground. He had a permanent smile on his face even if the city was covered in grey clouds. In his hand Richard held a cluster of wildflowers, daisies, and weeds he had plucked for Mami, Kittie, and Maria on the walk home from the corner store with Miguel. Grandpa Haly had sent them out for some first aid supplies after Jorge had thrown a little too close to Yvanka’s side in the show the night before. Miguel had taken off into a run the moment they made it back to camp, jogging after a pair of ducks with a large smile. 

This had to be the best week of Richard’s life. 

He gripped the flowers a little tighter, hitched the bag up higher on his elbow and decided, first, to drop the necessities off with Grandpa Haly. 

Grandpa Haly’s caravan was the biggest one out of the Circus, it was metal on the outside and had a set of shining stairs that opened up to a big, wide and plush living room. Grandpa Haly had watched over Richard many a night and they would play cards on the pull out couch Richard slept on and eaten candy before dinner. The caravan had the distinct smell of tobacco, something that Richard was sure had seeped into the walls since Grandpa Haly had quit smoking when Richard was four. 

Grandpa Haly had told him years ago that he didn’t have to knock and only couldn’t come in if the door was locked. 

The door wasn’t locked but it did swing open without Richard touching it. 

It wasn’t Grandpa Haly standing in the doorway either. No, Grandpa Haly was sitting at his kitchen table, a glass of brown in front of him half empty. The man that stood in the doorway was large and small at the same time, had hair the color of burnt wood and a sneer that would have gotten Richard grounded. He wore a yellowed white shirt and a brown waistcoat that matched his brown pants and brown shoes. On his waist Richard couldn’t help noticing the holster that was empty. 

“Dickie.” Grandpa Haly stood up faster than Richard had ever seen him move. Richard stepped back and the man in the doorway stepped towards him. Grandpa Haly put his considerable bulk between the two of them, hiding Richard with his whole body. 

“Wouldn’t want anything to happen to the boy, would ya Haly?” The man’s voice was like oil and Richard felt slimy just hearing it. 

He shuffled closer to Grandpa Haly and grabbed onto the back of his coat. “Are you threatening me?” Grandpa Haly never sounded this angry, even when Richard had spilled the milk all over his financial reports that one time. 

The smile on the man’s face looked wrong. Maybe it was the cigarette between his teeth or maybe it was the glint in his eye - either way Richard didn’t think a smile was made for that man’s face. “I would hate to see something happen to shut down this circus,” The man twirled the gun he held in his hand before sliding it into its holster. He noticed Richard looking. 

“Get out of here, you coyote.” Grandpa Haly pulled Richard closer into his body. 

“I come to collect, old man.” The man laughed and lit his cigarette with long, thin fingers. “Tonight.” 

“Don’t bother.” Grandpa Haly called to the man’s retreating back. 

“Then pay the price.” The man cackled like a dog and walked on. “As long as I get my money in the end.” 

Grandpa Haly was silent for a long while and only let Richard go after the man’s back could no longer be seen. Richard had never seen Grandpa Haly look so old. He seemed to have aged twenty years in the time Richard had been sent to the store. Grandpa Haly winced and knelt down on his good knee so that he was only a hair taller than Richard. “Are you okay, Dickie?” His eyes showed concern. 

“M’okay, Grandpa Haly.” Richard narrowed his eyes and squeezed the flowers tighter in his hand. “Are you?” Grandpa Haly didn’t look okay. 

The sound he made sounded like it was supposed to be a laugh. “I’m okay.” 

“What was that man mad about?” Richard handed Grandpa Haly the bag and accepted the ruffle of his hair in response. He let Grandpa Haly push himself up with the help of his shoulder. 

“Nothing, Dickie.” Grandpa Haly waved him off. “Just a man looking to scare us is all.” 

“Oh.” 

“Tell you what, Dickie.” Grandpa Haly turned back to look at him, a smile on his face and in his eyes and voice. Grandpa Haly was the best at acting that Richard had ever met but Richard had no reason to believe that what Grandpa Haly was saying wasn’t true. “Why don’t we go over that flying pattern one more time before the show tonight?” 

And just like that Richard forgot all about the man and the gun and the warning in his eyes in favor of running off to the caravan to give Mami her flowers and slide out of his shoes. 

He wondered if flying was better on the second night than it was on the first. 

* * *

His costume was green and red with golden trim around the edges - a perfect combination of Papi’s red suit and Mami’s green. Kittie was fiddling with his makeup, but Richard already felt like he was wearing more than was necessary. She held a black stick up to his eyes. “Sit very still, Dickie.” She reminded him for what had to be the fiftieth time. Richard couldn’t help it - he could hear the audience hooting and hollering for the lion tamer act before The Flying Graysons went out. He had heard one of the kids in the audience the night before excitedly babbling on about how he wished that “I could do things just like that!” 

Richard had never been the product of anyone’s wish before. 

He found he quite liked it. 

Kittie tapped his chin sharply and Richard ceased moving. “Scuze.” He muttered. 

“You’re almost done, Dickie.” She reassured. “Just need to get this one last bit on and then you can watch through the curtains.” 

Richard loved watching through the curtains. It was like he was seeing something that audience wasn’t from behind the big red drapes. 

Grandpa Haly’s big, bulking, and bright figure caught Richard’s eye. Next to him…. Richard narrowed his eyes. Kittie hit him again. “Wide, Richard.” 

He corrected himself but didn’t look away. The man with the gun was back, this time with a red face. Grandpa Haly didn’t look too happy either, gesturing with his golden staff angrily. “All done.” Kittie tapped him lightly on the nose and Richard blinked at his reflection in the mirror she was holding up. “What do you think?” 

Richard wrinkled his nose. “Why do I need to wear makeup, again?” He asked seriously. 

Kittie rolled her eyes. “To make you shine like the star you are.” 

“I’m not a star.” Richard stuck out his tongue. “I’m a bird.” 

“Ah, of course.” Kittie affectionately squeezed his hand. “Now up you go. Mary is waiting for you.” 

And indeed she was, waving him over with an open hand. Richard eagerly jumped to his feet, stopping only when he was right in front of her. “Is it time?!” He bounced on the balls of his feet. 

Mami laughed and smoothed his bangs off his forehead. “Almost, prihor.” 

She let him up the ladder first, Papi standing across from them this time and waving from the top when Richard made it up. Mami grabbed onto the trapeze bar when she made it up, her body a warm space against Richard’s back. 

The lion tamer bowed and had the lions bow as well, the clowns restarted their rounds and the lights dimmed. “And now,” Grandpa Haly boomed from down below in the center of the Big Top. “In their second performance in Gotham City, I present to you the birds that fly higher than the trees!” The lights swept over the anxious faces of the audience. “The fearless birds without wings… and without a net.” 

It wasn’t quiet by any definition of the word, but Richard could hear his heart beating in his chest. “The Flying…  _ Gray _ sons!” 

The lights flashed on, Papi pushed off, Mami pushed off and they flew across, between, and towards each other. Mami flipped once, twice, three times and Papi caught her by the ankles. 

The audience grew louder with each passing second. 

Papi winked. 

Mami smiled. 

Richard grabbed onto the trapeze bar and stood at the edge, his toes gripping the wood tightly. 

And....

SNAP. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments motivate me to write more so... if you want more please tell me?


End file.
